A poor tale of rich neglect

IT SEEMS a victim?s economic and social status determines the police response to cases of kidnapping. So while the entire state police machinery worked overtime to trace Anant, son of Adobe India CEO Naresh Gupta, a few weeks ago, Ankit, a common man?s son, was brutally killed by his captors right under the nose of the police top brass.

IT SEEMS a victim’s economic and social status determines the police response to cases of kidnapping.

So while the entire state police machinery worked overtime to trace Anant, son of Adobe India CEO Naresh Gupta, a few weeks ago, Ankit, a common man’s son, was brutally killed by his captors right under the nose of the police top brass.

And not a soul was stirred. No frantic directives from the chief minister, no efforts worth a mention from the State police. No nothing.

After four days of hopeless policing, all they finally got was Ankit’s mutilated body on Tuesday.

Remember how the entire elite Special Task Force (STF) team, led by SSP SK Bhagat, and the then inspector general, Meerut zone, NB Singh camped in Noida till Anant returned home. Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav had also expressed serious concern over the abduction.

That was all very fine. But one can’t really be selective, can one? Or what else made the state police go so criminally slow on Ankit, son of SGPGI technician RK Vishwakarma. Leave alone senior officials, like inspector general (Lucknow Zone) and the deputy inspector general (Range), even SSP Rajiv Krishna did not deem it fit to visit the spot, or Vishwakarma’s house in Eldeco Colony. A neighbour of the Vishwakarmas claimed a local resident had even informed State police chief Bua Singh soon after the incident. The DGP, according to the neighbour, had even issued directives to the SSP Lucknow to look into the matter. Singh had even enquired about the kidnapping case during a meeting of Lucknow zone police officials the very next day. But that what was about all. Top cops, including the SSP allegedly, showed no urgency in tracing Ankit, despite there being a number of leads to begin with.

A similar attitude was witnessed when a health department official’s minor son Shubhankar was kidnapped on July 31 in the Cantonment area.

The boy was found murdered in Mohanlalganj after 15 days. A neighbour was arrested. No senior police official, including the then SSP GK Goswami, visited the spot after the kidnapping.